Source: Stamps special teams co-ordinator in mix for Golden Bears job

Kilam one of five candidates for a position expected to be filled early next week

Calgary Stampeders special teams co-ordinator Mark Kilam, right, talks with quarterback Kevin Glenn during preparation for the West final earlier this month. Kilam is being interviewed for the head coaching job with the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

Photograph by: Calgary Herald/Files
, Calgary Herald

A Canadian Football League source confirmed Thursday that Calgary Stampeders special teams co-ordinator Mark Kilam is a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at the University of Alberta.

Reports out of Edmonton say the 33-year-old Lethbridge native who returned Monday with the Stampeders following the team’s 35-22 Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts has an interview scheduled this weekend. Although U of A athletic director Ian Reade wouldn’t comment on Kilam’s candidacy in particular, he made it clear he wants the position filled early next week.

“I want the committee to make a decision by Monday,” Reade said. “I have no idea really what can happen after that. There’s reason to believe a deal can be done very quickly, but I’ve been around the faculty way too long with all kinds of positions and people change their minds.

“I’m really hoping we can have a decision made and move on by Monday.”

The news does not come out of left field as Kilam has ties to the Golden Bears. He played linebacker for U of A from 1997 to 2001 and was a team captain. He graduated from the faculty of physical education and recreation with a major in sport and performance. Following that, he coached the Cochrane Cobras from 2002-05 before joining the Stamps as their strength and conditioning coach and worked his way up.

For the past three years, he’s held the special teams co-ordinator position, working with the likes of Burke Dales, kick returner Larry Taylor, and helping groom punter Rob Maver and kicker Rene Paredes. In 2012, the Stampeders’ special team unit was, arguably, the CFL’s best.

But there’s no question Kilam — or whoever got the job — would be in for some heavy lifting. The U of A program needs some serious work.

In the last five seasons, the Bears are 13-27 and three of those wins were due to the opposition using ineligible players. They haven’t won a conference championship in 31 years.

By comparison, the U of C Dinos have won the last five Canada West titles and have made two Vanier Cup appearances after hiring Blake Nill in 2006 to overhaul the program. Now, they have a community supported model which operates from the ground up as well as solid alumni funding and corporate sponsorship — all of which have been nonexistent in Edmonton.

“We’ve probably under-supported our football program,” Reade told the Edmonton Journal earlier this week. “We have to support the program better, and we are working on getting our internal house in order to make sure that happens.”

The Edmonton Journal reported Reade and his 10-person selection committee are focusing on five candidates including Kilam.

U of A’s interim head coach Jeff Stead, who has held the job since the spring of 2011, is in the mix along with former Eskimos and current high school coaches Blake Dermott and Chris Morris, Edmonton Wildcats defensive line coach and former Bev Facey high school coach Barclay Spady.

“If we have a committee meeting and we don’t think that one of the people can do the job then we’re going to keep interviewing,” Reade said. “There are a lot of variables involved in this particular job, but I don’t have any doubt that we’ve got people that in this particular job, at this particular time at this place that can do the job.”

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Calgary Stampeders special teams co-ordinator Mark Kilam, right, talks with quarterback Kevin Glenn during preparation for the West final earlier this month. Kilam is being interviewed for the head coaching job with the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

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